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The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

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Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#171

Post by faangsticle »

Ekaros wrote: post #100
hombre_fatal wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kinda crazy how a lower mod can request a higher mod's removal. Pretty unhealthy precedent for a community where mods are already power hungry lunatics and your most obsessed power hungry mod who spends all day needlessly moderating the subreddit can appeal to reddit with "look how much more active I am than him; he barely does anything! So, gimme the subreddit pls."

If the higher up mods clearly don't want to run the show anymore it is natural, just and right to rely those who do.

They are still running the show. Making your subreddit private is, or at least used to be, a perfectly legitimate way of running things. Remember, reddit added that feature to their website.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#172

Post by sangnoir »

ipaddr wrote: post #111
LordDragonfang wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There is massive friction to being able to post anywhere. Reddit would be objectively better with a less heavy handed approach to moderation Whenever I see this sentiment I'm honestly stumped as to how anyone's experience can be so different from mine. What exactly is it that you're trying to post that's so difficult? because from what I see in nearly every sub, they'd be improved by more moderation, since nearly al…

Different subs have different rules and different formats on what they expect. Casually posting as you would in one thread might get you banned in another. Here is a good example. As a new user signed up for an account and posted in a sub got a lot of replies but didn't come back for a few months. Tried replying and was forbidden because of low karma points. Never came back.. The reason why you as a long term reddit…

> Different subs have different rules and different formats on what they expect

This is a core feature that distinguishes Reddit as a "Community of communities". It's not a bug, it's a feature

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#173

Post by rincebrain »

arecurrence wrote: post #97

In my experience, whenever volunteer mod positions open, there is a near infinite supply of people that want those roles. For whatever reasons, people want it and those that have it typically seek to hold onto it. It's borderline inexplicable to me. How could someone want this in the first place and how could they be willing to do it in a volunteer capacity?

Much like why some people contribute to open source projects, sometimes people find a thing useful but think it could be better, and spend some of their time to make it so, either by helping to organize things so the subreddit isn't frequently the same 6 posts, or organizing community recurring events, or a million other things to foster a community.

There's also plenty of people who like the authority, or a thousand other reasons, but that's one example.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#174

Post by EA-3167 »

anigbrowl wrote: post #124
civilitty wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Finally, I can fulfill my destiny of taking over r/television and banning anyone who says anything positive about a show with a laugh track. It should never have been allowed to begin with.

More seriously, the other day someone spent significant time and effort trying to convince me that the new version of The Wonder Years featuring a black family was anti-white propaganda by The Jews. If he's a reddit user I'm sure he'd love to mod a sub with such a large community.

I feel like the crazies ranting about "white erasure" are making it harder to criticize these race-reboots on the grounds they should be criticized for: laziness. Mediocre products where the selling point is, "we swapped races, give us points," remain mediocre and are unbelievably lazy compared to what we should see... which is new and interesting things with diversity baked in.

Unfortunately the hysterical racists are so loud and pervasive that this is yet another issue we see broken down in a Manichean battle to cover for a total lack of new ideas.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#175

Post by wnevets »

arecurrence wrote: post #97

In my experience, whenever volunteer mod positions open, there is a near infinite supply of people that want those roles. For whatever reasons, people want it and those that have it typically seek to hold onto it. It's borderline inexplicable to me. How could someone want this in the first place and how could they be willing to do it in a volunteer capacity?

> It's borderline inexplicable to me. How could someone want this in the first place and how could they be willing to do it in a volunteer capacity?

Being a gatekeeper for a popular subreddit is a form of meaningful influence. Meaningful influence can lead to money and other benefits. Reddit mods in the past have been exposed for using their influence to push certain content and block other kind.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#176

Post by krainboltgreene »

mattmaroon wrote: post #42

I don’t blame them. Reddit owns the subreddits, not redditors. I have no idea why someone would put the time required into moderating a large sub for no money just for Reddit’s benefit in the first place. A Reddit model where the mods share in profits (kind of how YouTube creators do) would be interesting. But if you’re going to sign up for that, you can’t expect Reddit to just let you tank their site. It was never y…

> would be interesting.

In what way would it be interesting?

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#177

Post by tbatchelli »

Havoc wrote: post #16

They’re gonna be left with bottom of the barrel mods. It’s a thankless task to begin with - a marginal proposition at best. Add some threats as a thank you for the unpaid work and it becomes downright abusive Who the hell is going to want to mod in that context?

Maybe we'll have paid mods, but not paid by Reddit, but paid with people and organizations with money, an agenda, and some societal changes in mind.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#178

Post by jmull »

I'm almost starting to think they really will break Reddit.

When all this started I had no doubt that the protests would come, make their point, end, and then Reddit would continue on its way.

But this has been so poorly handled.

I think a key to reddit's "success" (such as it is) is that they figured out how to scale moderation -- by getting volunteers to do the tough work for free. I'm sure reddit can toss all the uncooperative mods and get as many new ones as they could ever want.

But they are changing the fundamental dynamic between mod, subreddit and reddit the company. I wonder if this won't actually break the system.

Before, mods could run subreddits as they saw fit, users could choose the subreddits they participated in, and a user can always create a new subreddit if they don't think any existing ones suit their needs.

Now mods will have to accept that supporting reddit's business goals is the "zeroth law" for any subreddit. I just wonder if enough quality moderators will be willing to put in the time and effort required to keep a larger community from devolving into a cess pool, or to build up new subreddits -- for free.

When you're working for yourself doing what you want, when you want, you don't mind not getting paid for it. When a boss is telling you want to do and when to do it, you expect to get paid. Reddit is making itself the boss of the mods.

The thing is, this is an entirely unforced error. Overwhelmingly, the natural interests of subreddits are aligned with Reddits business goals, or at least aren't in opposition to them. The horribly handled roll out of the API pricing has essentially backed mods into a corner, basically forcing them to protest and then extend the protest.

IDK, maybe this was all 4D chess, and reddit wanted to get rid of third party apps and have an excuse to purge moderators with a sense of ownership over the subreddits they moderate. But it sure seems to me like they just don't know what they are doing. I know reddit needs to figure out how to become sustainable (profitable), and changing the dynamic between reddit and third-party apps is likely a necessary part of that. But I can't believe disengaging moderators can possibly help.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#179

Post by Havoc »

anthonypasq wrote: post #44
Havoc wrote: post #16

They’re gonna be left with bottom of the barrel mods. It’s a thankless task to begin with - a marginal proposition at best. Add some threats as a thank you for the unpaid work and it becomes downright abusive Who the hell is going to want to mod in that context?

everyone always says this yet getting a mod to relinquish their position is nearly impossible. Reddit mods desperately want to be mods and will do everything in their power to hold on to it. I know its a stereotype, but for many it is literally the only semblance of power/control they have over their life.

>everyone always says this yet getting a mod to relinquish their position is nearly impossible.

There are certainly those, but not sure it is accurate to generalize to mods as a whole.

Re: The note Reddit sent to moderators threatening them if they don’t reopen

#180

Post by themaninthedark »

jonathankoren wrote: post #45
themaninthedark wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds to me like there are Top Mods who want to continue the boycott, with others who don't and that Reddit is looking at giving the other mods a path forward. One of the things I have noticed is that the boycott is not from the users but from the mods of the community. Even if the community had a vote, if you want to boycott fine but they are forcing others to go along with with them. So either they are not the…

First labor strike, huh? Ask yourself, who told you that was true? The strikers? Or the guy with the vested interest in breaking the strike and desperate to find anyone -- literally anyone -- to cross the line?

If the mods want to go on strike it's not a problem. What I am talking about is that the mods decided to drag the users into their issue.

I don't even use Reddit that often, I see that there is a vocal contingent that is telling me how Reddit is ruining Reddit.

If the company wants to kill their community, that is their prerogative. If it kills their company, that is what happens.

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